Speaker: Annabelle Crosby-Stewart
Who are you and why did you train in Magical Change?
Annabelle Crosby-Stewart: Hello, my name is Annabelle Crosby Stewart, and I'm currently training to be a Positive Psychologist. And I trained in Magical Change, a number of years ago now. It was pre-COVID. I trained in Magical Change originally because I was a manager at a children's theatre performing arts school and I realized that there were a lot of children that were facing kind of emotional based issues and challenges that just simply didn't get the support they needed, through the performing arts programme. It was not something that was given to us, or you know, we weren't told how to deal with children that were facing specific things. So, for example, children that found it very difficult to come to class; children with kind of separation anxiety, that were worried about leaving their parents; kind of stage fright issues; anxiety that had to do with performing, and those kind of things. I realized there was a lot of that going on - in the classroom - and outside of the classroom. And I also recognized a huge increase in Neurodiversity - some of which was diagnosed, some of which was not. Some of which was on a CAMHS waiting list, and I wanted to better support those children in the environment. That's how I originally started training in Magical Change and it's kind of snowballed from there.
What can you say about the quality of the training that you had in the Magical Change method ?
Annabelle Crosby-Stewart: So I would say the main thing for me, in terms of the importance of the training that was provided, is the mentorship that you have from Trudy. She is an outstanding mentor - and she is almost always available. In fact, she's always available to give advice and resources and content and I feel the Magical Change process and the training is continual. You know, you do the course and you sit down for a couple of days, or a couple of weeks, or whatever, but you always have kind of Trudy's experience and guidance carrying you along. So if you have, you know, a child that you're a little bit nervous about approaching, or you have a specific issue with parents - or anything really, Trudy's there to offer advice and guidance. She also has a wealth of experience herself with children that have been through the Magical Change method - successes. She knows what works, she knows what doesn't, and she has a plethora of practitioners that are also trained who feed back their experience. We have a fantastic community Facebook group, in which people share their experiences and their wins and ask questions and you know, find the best methods of support together - and Trudy really pioneers that as well. And the course itself is really really very useful. You receive the resources in kind of like a nice chunky bible that you get to keep and refer to. And it's really great because in case, you know, you haven't approached somebody in a while, or you haven't been regularly practising the method, Trudy's always there and you always have the materials to refer back to, on another occasion - in case you're feeling a little bit rusty or under confident.
What experience have you had of seeing Magical Change in action with a child or young person?
Annabelle Crosby-Stewart: Ooh, this is my favourite question so far! So the experiences that I have seen in a child or a young person through the Magical Change method. - I can answer this from two different perspectives because not only am I a Magical Change practitioner, but I also was a recipient of the Magical Change method myself. So when I was, oh, probably about early adolescence, I would say 18 or 19, I went through the Magical Change process, with Trudy as my practitioner, because I was a very picky eater. So I was in a lot of really quite poor eating habits. I was very frightened of food, the textures of food, that kind of thing, because I had been told that I was a picky eater from a very young age, so I just ran with that narrative continuously, and it kind of followed me into adulthood. And I'm not saying I'm a brilliant eater now. I will hold my hands up. I do not have a fantastic diet by any means, but all of my food-associated anxiety is long gone. For kind of some context on how severe my situation was, if you like. I didn't try a strawberry until I was about 19 years old. And I also would not eat any chicken that wasn't breaded. So anything other than a kind of chicken nugget, I would not eat. And I now have much more confidence surrounding food and I don't have any of those anxieties anymore. In terms of children that I have seen as a practitioner, I have had absolutely outstanding results. One girl in particular, who I saw rather recently - I was receiving comments from her teachers asking what I had possibly done because it was like having a different child in the classroom. This is a child who they could not physically get to go to school -with serious EBSA, and she also could not even put socks on because she did not like the sensation of socks on her feet. And I have had outstanding results from that. She is really excelling, academically - and just in everyday life. That was a really rewarding one for me, as now I'm a really close friend of the family. And yeah, that one's just been really amazing and stuck with me for a long time.
What changes did you see in any children or young people that you have worked with?
Annabelle Crosby-Stewart: So, as I kind of previously stated, I've had outstanding results with children. I have had children who wouldn't go to school. I've had children with really quite severe sensory processing disorders. I have had children who were kind of performing quite poorly academically. I have had a plethora of things and I have seen an immense difference. The other thing that I find very useful about the Magical Change method in my current situation, at the moment, is, I've also noticed a marked difference when you use parts of the process with children. So for example, If you do not have the time resources or perhaps the opportunity to see a child on a weekly basis and do the whole Magical Change method, sometimes little snippets of the method also are kind of rewarding and bring about some sort of little bits of success. So for instance, I, just this weekend actually, happened to be a visitor at a rehearsal for a gymnastics competition and I was asked to speak to a child who was exceptionally anxious about doing her routine. We shared a kind of 10 minute conversation and I implemented some of the conversations that you have in the Magical Change method and we kind of talked for a brief period of time and I used some snippets of the information that I received from my training, and we got an all around good result from that. And yeah, she's now feeling much more confident in performing and she's got some strategies to manage her emotions - which is kind of invaluable really.
Why is Magical Change different from other services for supporting the mental health of young people?
Annabelle Crosby-Stewart: So I find that Magical Change is exceptionally different from other mental health providers for children - for a number of reasons. The main one for me, and my area of expertise, is the fact that Magical Change is rooted in Positive Psychology - which is kind of a new wave of psychology, which is moving away from a deficit focus and it's looking towards kind of strengths focus - and obviously positivity - in the name - and solutions-focused opportunities for children. So as opposed to kind of labels and diagnosis and a deficit mentality, we're moving more towards empowering individuals to manage their emotions; find their own strengths; overcome their challenges and problems; and develop resilience. And this is why Magical Change is ahead of its time. And I really think there is a place for it in the market. It's a very useful technique in terms of empowering children to find their own solutions - which is not something that I have seen in any other mental health support for children. The other thing is, positive psychology, in general, at the moment, is very adult focused. There's very little research in terms of children, and I really think that Magical Change is kind of the new way to break into Positive Psychology for children. Keep an eye out because Positive Psychology is on the rise and it's kind of becoming more seen in mainstream media, and Magical Change is an excellent way to bring these opportunities and this research forward for children as well.
